The acer in the bottom picture was air layered last year off of the mother tree in the upper picture.
We are now Air layering both mother tree and daughter.
update 12/24/16 this past fall we successfully got another tree off of the top tree.
The one off of the daughter tree is still touch and go, not seeing many starts for buds but time will tell.
These are not a tree one normally associates with bonsai. But to me they are one of the most important trees I work with.
We keep a variety of sizes in various parts of the BONSAI area.
Not only do they add variety to the garden, they also offer color. We have had 2-3 plants flower in the last couple of years.
But the main reason I grow them is for water indicators. If any of these guys start to wilt from dryness it tells me the entire garden needs a drink. 
The lilac shown in the blue pots is in the 8-9 year old.
When I first started working with trees my initial thought was we would take Costal Redwood starts and grow the trees as small as possible. Tree 3 shows this, this tree is 18 years old and has always been grown in very little soil. The pot is 15 years old, made in Japan.
Dimensions Pot 3.5 / 9 /12
from soil to top about 24 inches
This tree is the first Redwood I have grown that has developed seed cones 2 years ago. I harvested a couple of seeds but left most on the tree.
While I haven’t tried to start from seed yet I’m looking forward to that.
The top needs work for sure, I just haven’t decided what is next. Probably top it then lightning strike the top.
TREE2
Has been grown in the same style . This tree is 9 years old .
The oval pot is 9 years old made in Japan.
Dimensions Pot 3 / 7 / 9
from soil to top 24″
Seeds developed last year. Must be doing something right.
Tree 1 is the youngest of the lot. It was started 8 years ago. Planted in a 10 gallon pot to allow it to gain some size.
The pot is 15 years old made in Japan.
Dimensions Pot 2.5 / 11 / 15
from soil to top 24 ”
When we moved, this tree got stuck in the back and grew very well . In fact it got up to about six feet. In the Summer of 2014 the heat killed it back , at that time there where only the two main stems. Two more have started since it was cut down.
All of the wood that came off the tree is shown in the top photo.
next on the top I’ll drill down through the bare spot and “Naturalize” it.
Bonsai and Burl - 